


X-PECTERS

by Midosgarden



Category: Saint Seiya
Genre: 80's, Action, Alternate Universe, Bisexuality, Canon X OC - Freeform, Dark Comedy, Drama, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, High School, Humor, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Love Triangles, M/M, Multi, Mutant Powers, Mystery, Past Abuse, References to Drugs, Romance, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Shipping is fun, Slow Burn, Suspense, Team as Family, more canonical characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2019-08-24 10:11:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16637957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Midosgarden/pseuds/Midosgarden
Summary: AU. 1985. A group of twelve people escape from a clandestine laboratory to an uncertain fate. A world where humans with special abilities called "mutants" hide under the facade of ordinary people and strive to survive. Disaster, friendship, love, and heartbreak. What will the future bring?Specters centered. More canonical characters.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone~ I'm working on this story in english, even though it is not my mother tongue. I apologize in advance for any grammatical error.  
> I have daydreaming with this too much and I'm actually very excited to write it. I hope I don't lose my waaay. 
> 
> This story has OC, which could take important roles in the story, so if you do not like the insertion of OC, you can retire in peace. I do not own some of the OC, but I have the permission of their creators to use them. 
> 
> Surprise, Saint Seiya characters are not mine. Aaand just in case, Rune/René = Lune. I've seen they call him like that, but I just use Lune. 
> 
> I hope you read it and leave your comments and opinions. I could take my time to write sometimes, so I beg you patience *sweats*.

X-PECTERS

Chapter1. Pilot (No place to tun)

September 30, 1985. Unknown Island.

The weather was cold. The water from a nearby river was running. The clouds were grey. The bodies were all over the ground. She never felt so free, but she never felt so scared.

There was broken glass all over the floor. A threatening silence was present in the corridors of an underground laboratory used for secret experiments. It was located on an unknown island near the bay of Northwinds in England. Then, an alarm was activated and the silence disappeared. Armed men were running through the corridors.

They were alert. They had escaped.

The island was a place full of life. In the surroundings of the laboratory, the flora grew freely. A river flowed calm and small animals were walking on its shore, and also, a girl. She had black long hair, pale white skin, and big lilac eyes. She was wearing white clothes, a simple shirt and pants. She had blood stains on her chest and on her legs. She walked fast and confused near the river as she set aside the vegetation as she passed. She looked alert at her surroundings and kept walking.

"There she is!"

That shout made her run fast as the wind. They had found her and she wasn't willing to go back there. She ran as fast as her feet allowed her to run. When she reached a clear between the trees and the shrubs, she stopped. The sound of crushed leaves made her turn her head with fear. It was getting close. Then it suddenly stopped. She turned her head to all sides while she hugged herself and trembled, both out of fear and cold.

"Pandora" A soft, deep voice came from nowhere.

The girl freaked out and began to run again, but was stopped by a hand grabbing her arm.

"Do not worry" The voice said. She couldn't see who was holding her; she couldn't see anything, as if it was a ghost. "It's me" It tried to calm her down. A body began to materialize in front of her. It was a tall man with pale skin, white long hair and lilac eyes.

"Lune!" She whispered in surprise.

"Be quiet and follow me" He said calmly.

He took her hand and they quickly disappeared.

In the southern part of the island, near the bay, a tall blond man with short messy hair, with rough looking dull gold-colored eyes and one eyebrow, walked towards the sea. His name was Radamanthys. A blood stain highlighted in the white color of the left sleeve of his shirt. He was dragging his feet as a sign of fatigue. He looked around to make sure that nobody was near. His arm began to hurt and he closed his fists.

"Bloody hell!" He groaned and grabbed his arm. "I hate this fucking place".

The wind was blowing and the sea was rough. Suddenly, the sound of a helicopter began to approach. Radamanthys threw himself behind a couple of big rocks and tried to hide. The sound of the blades was heard nearby, but was overshadowed by the sound of a couple of shots. When the helicopter left, everything was silence. The blond man stayed there listening to the sound of the sea. He began to wonder where the others were.

In the depths of the vegetation of the island, a group of armed men walked quietly among the various plants of the place. Those men were soldiers of the laboratory, and had orders of not to let escape the "experiments". The trees began to stir. The men prepared their weapons and aimed everywhere. The rustling of the leaves and branches distracted their ears for a second. Suddenly, a loud gasp was heard among the group of men and everyone turned their heads to see one of them pierced by a thick branch. The man gasped a few words between bouts of pain, and then stopped moving. With signs of horror in their eyes, all the guards started shooting wildly to the trees. Another branch started to move incredibly fast between the legs of the guards until it went through the torso of another man. The bright red blood began to spread all over the floor. A bunch of branches started to move ready to attack, and the rest of the guards escaped from the place. The inert bodies of the two guards were hanging from the branches like puppets.

Behind the shrubs, a young man covered his ears and closed his eyes. He was trembling. He didn't know if it was for the cold, the fear, or both

"I just was protecting myself. I just was protecting everyone." He whispered.

The name given to this young man was Queen. He had short pink hair, white skin and lilac eyes. He bit his lips at the image of those dead men in the branches. He looked disoriented, but stood up and began to walk to nowhere in particular, until he heard it.

"The beach!" He said with a smile, and ran following the sound.

A rain of gunfire was heard in the distance. Queen looked at the sky but didn't stop running until he got to the beach.

"Finally" He said with agitated breathing, feeling the sand under his feet. "The boats! Where are the boats?" He asked himself, looking for those boats that could get him out of that island.

He saw them, two little boats that could easily take four people (three passengers and one driver), moving in the rough waters near the shore. The shore was in a lower level than the rest of the island and he had to jump down to get there. He ran towards the boats without lowering his guard, but when he got to the edge and looked down the sight of blood stopped him.

"Oh, shit." He muttered with eyes wide open.

Near the boats, the body of a young man was laying on the white sand. It looked like he tried to reach the boats, but was caught. Queen reacted and ran towards the familiar body.

"Hey, are you okay? Are you alive?" Queen whispered nervously.

The other young man had tanned skin and medium length black hair with bangs. He had long eyelashes and thick, defined eyebrows. His clothes had big stains of blood, but he was breathing.

"Pharaoh?" Queen asked.

He didn't answer, but moved his head to the left, following the voice of Queen. Queen saw his hands and nails covered in blood. He knew what he had done. He also saw the wound in his leg. Queen carefully dragged his partner's body to a safer place between the rocks, which were in front of a wall of sand, and hided with him.

"I hope the others can make it." Queen said, embracing his knees.

In the place where vegetation ended and sand started to took its place, Lune and Pandora walked towards the sea. A special shine appeared in Pandora's big eyes. It had been two and a half years since the last time she saw the sea.

"Here it is." Lune addressed. "Now we only have to find—"

"The boats!" Pandora exclaimed, pointing at the two little boats.

"Don't let your guard down. We are not safe yet." Lune warned.

The two fugitives ran to the sea, looking at all sides, just in case someone was near. They could feel that someone was watching them. When they reached the boats a voice held them back.

"You two!"

They turned their heads to the place where the voice came from.

"Queen?" Pandora asked.

"You are alive!" Queen exclaimed.

"What happened to him?" Lune asked, looking at Pharaoh and all the blood.

"I don't know, but he had a hard time for sure." Queen answered.

"Wait" Lune said, turning his look to Pandora, seeing the blood on her chest. "What happened to you?" He wondered.

"Oh, don't worry, it isn't mine." Pandora answered.

Her look became sad. How many people had died? Where were the others? She wondered in her head. The sound of the waves breaking on the rocks and the murmur of her companions took her out of her thoughts.

"Well, let's take a boat." Queen said.

"Shouldn't we wait a little more just in case someone else comes? Lune asked.

"I just want to get out here soon! How much more will I have to wait?" Queen said with clear despair. "And we are four people. One boat can take only four people."

"Can you give me a ride?" A voice asked.

Radamanthys walked towards the group, keeping his rough looks. He wasn't tired anymore and walked calmly in the sand.

"Radamanthys" Lune greeted him.

"Lune" Radamanthys answered him. "To be honest, I didn't expect to see all of you again. I kind of thought we were going to fail."

Moved by his words, Queen took his hand to his chest.

"Now…" Pandora went on. "We can go, right?"

"I guess we can." Lune said.

Pandora walked toward Pharaoh, who was trying to move. She got on her knees and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't force yourself." Pandora said firmly.

Pharaoh stopped moving and relaxed his body. He opened his eyes, showing its light amber color.

"Can you stand up?" Pandora asked.

"My leg..." Pharaoh said.

He had a bullet wound in his right leg, but it was just a brush. With a bit of difficulty, he sat in the sand, and saw the sea.

"I killed people." Pharaoh went on, with no expression on his face. His eyes wanted to close.

Pandora was silent and tried to find the words she wanted to say. Queen saw his sleepy eyes and knew that he had been sedated. Suddenly, the threatening sound of a helicopter approaching quickly towards them was heard. The group looked up to the sky and saw it. It was ready to attack them. They could see the weapons aiming at them.

"Oh, no!" Queen yelled.

"We were so close." Radamanthys mumbled, losing the only grain of hope he had.

The weapon opened fire, and immediately after that, the helicopter began to shake and lose control. It tried to compose itself, but it was too late. The two bullets the weapon fired went directly into the sand, in the place where Lune was two seconds ago before he ran to the rocks. The helicopter began to spin and fell. It exploited dramatically when it hit the land. The violent explosion echoed across the island.

The group could hide at the right moment, except Pandora, who was standing firmly in the same place and looking at the sky.

"Aye, that was dangerous! Come here!" Radamanthys shouted.

Pandora didn't respond to his voice and slowly began to collapse. Quicky, Radamanthys stood up, ran towards her and held her in his arms before she could hit the sand. Pandora's eyes were wide open at first, but seconds later they began to relax.

"What did you do?" Radamanthys carefully put her on the sand.

"She saved us." Queen said worried.

"Hey" Radamanthys patted her on the shoulder as gentle as he could. "Are you okay?"

"I think I am" She said in a low voice. "It was too heavy". She added, referring to the helicopter.

After making sure Pandora was doing well, Lune began to walk to the boats.

"Good, we are now ready to—

"Wait!"

A voice that came from the sea called their attention. It was Charon's voice.

A red head man in his late 30's, with short hair, dull white skin and tired eyes, approached them. He had pronounced dark circles and a perpetual angry expression that made him look a little scary.

"Don't go without me. I'm so fucking tired of this entire situation!" Charon complained.

"Good to see you, Charon! Now, let's go! Let's go now!" Queen yelled taking his hands to his head.

"Yeah, yeah, just get me out of here, can you?" Charon grunted.

Radamanthys helped Pandora to stand up and Queen helped Pharaoh who tried to walk on his own, but failed.

Lune, Queen and Pharaoh were in one of the boats. Radamanthys, Pandora and Charon were in the other. Just when they were going to turn on the engine, a third boat emerged from the right side of the island. The group was worried for a second because they had thought they had been caught, but then they recognized the people in the boat.

"Holy shit!" Queen shouted.

There were three people in that third boat. All of them were familiar faces.

"Holy shit!" Someone in the other boat shouted too as an answer.

The one who had shouted was Myu, a young man with medium, messy pink hair, white skin and long eyelashes. All the attention could go directly to his pink, insect-like eyes, which had a rare and feminine beauty. The ones with him were Aiacos, a man with indian traits, medium dark hair, tanned skin, and purple eyes. He was the one who was driving the boat. And Minos, a man with white skin, messy long grey hair with bangs that almost covered his amber eyes.

"They made it. Awesome." Aiacos said, taking the wheel and slowing down the boat.

"Yeah, but… What about the other three?" Minos asked.

"Good question." Aiacos answered.

Aiacos took the boat to where the others were. Charon and Lune made the same thing. The three boats were together in no time. Unprofessional, Charon managed to take the boat there.

"Can you really drive this?" Radamanthys asked to Charon, holding on to the seat.

"Of course! I just have to get used to it." Charon argued.

Charon tried to control the water, but it was not just water, it was the ocean.

Radamanthys looked at Aiacos and at the rest of them.

"Did you see the others?" Radamanthys asked.

"Yes, but we lost trace of them before we got to the beach." Aiacos answered. "I know they are doing well. They have good abilities".

"We can't go then!" Myu exclaimed. "We took all the boats. How are they going to get out?

They stayed in silence for a couple of seconds. The waves weren't as wild as before, but the boats were slowly hitting each other.

Pandora sat in her seat, where she was laying down. The others began to talk, about what they were going to do. They said they could go back and bring them with them, but that was not safe. Pandora, still tired from before, closed her eyes and concentrated as much as she could. 'Is someone there?' Pandora asked in her thoughts. She waited, but no one answered. 'Is someone there?' She asked again. She did the same thing during three minutes, and at that time everyone in the boats was looking at her.

'Yes?!' A masculine voice exclaimed in Pandora's head.

She was surprised. It had worked. 'Sylphid?' She asked.

'Who is this? Where are you?' He asked with a confused tone.

'It's me, Pandora. We are on the boats'

The voice didn't respond. Pandora tried to focus the most she could.

'We are okay. We—. He said, without finishing his sentence.

Pandora bit her lip. She opened her eyes and looked at everyone looking at her. She had a worried expression in her face, but quickly changed it, because at least he could answer her.

"He said 'we'." Pandora whispered.

"What?" Radamanthys asked trying to understand.

"They are alive!" Pandora exclaimed. "We need to go back to the shore". She said, standing up and turning her head to the others.

"You better sit. You are still unstable". Radamanthys said, with a hand on her shoulder.

The others looked at each other. She was right, if they were alive, then they had to go back.

"Aight, they better not pass from five minutes. I really want to get out of here." Charon grunted, turning the boat.

The other two turned the boats too and went back to the shore. All of them were on alert like a pack of meerkats. They had a hard time trying to get on the boats and now they couldn't just fail. When they arrived, the wait started. The vegetation made the island look like a calmly tropical paradise, except for the smoke that came from the helicopter from before.

Five minutes passed and there were no signals of those three.

"They are fucking dead". Minos said with a poker face.

Myu frowned while looking at Minos. "We can wait five minutes more".

"Since when you care about them?" Minos asked.

Silence.

"What kind of question is that?" Myu argued. "I don't want to be here anymore because it is hell on earth, but it would make me feel uncomfortable if we leave them here."

"Minos" Radamanthys went on. "Why don't you help a little and make whatever you do to bring them here?"

Minos mocked the question. "Yeah! Of course! Let's just take control over their minds and that's it! But, oh, no! I can't see them! Just like when I couldn't see anything while I was trapped in a cell!" Minos snorted.

More silence, this time it lasted longer. But it was interrupted by a voice.

"There" Pharaoh said.

Queen looked at him and then at the beach. Three men were desperately running towards them, waving their arms and yelling.

"There they are!" Queen screamed.

Everyone looked at them with eyes wide open.

"Wait for us! Wait!" Sylphid yelled.

The three men ran as fast as they could. They were clean, except for the sweat in their shirts.

"Fuck's sake! Faster!" Charon yelled, turning on the engine.

Gordon, the biggest of the three arrived first to the boat with Myu, Aiacos, and Minos, and jumped in it, shaking the boat.

"Whoa there!" Aiacos said taking the wheel and holding on to it.

"Turn on this thing!" Gordon yelled.

Gordon was a big man with thick limbs. His hair was long and brown. He had bushy eyebrows, light brown eyes, and a cleft chin.

Aiacos turned on the engine. Lune also turned it on. Sylphid jumped to the boat with Gordon and fell on him. The other man, Valentine, jumped to the boat with Radamanthys, Pandora and Charon.

"Sorry, man" Sylphid apologized to Gordon for falling on him.

Sylphid had messy grey hair and grey eyes. His skin was white with a pink-ish tanned tone.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Charon yelled, hitting the boat's floor with his foot.

"I froze the guards" Valentine said with a deep voice. "I'm sure I did It well, but I don't know for how long they will be like that".

Valentine was a tall man with slim but strong arms. His hair was long and messy with a pale tone of pink; his skin was pale white and had pronounced dark circles under his dull gold eyes.

"You are okay now" Pandora said to him.

The inexperience of Charon controlling too much water made the boat shake a little, making the passengers to hold on whatever they could. Radamanthys bit his lip. He suggested Gordon to move to another boat.

Gordon saw the separation between the two boats and got nervous. "While the boats are moving? Hell no!" Gordon denied, crossing his arms.

"Get the fuck out of here! One of us is going to fall to the water!" Minos went on.

Aiacos was annoyed by those two. He firmly held the wheel to calm himself down.

Meanwhile in Lune's boat, Queen heard the wild conversation.

"Why don't we just stop the boats for a second?!" Queen asked.

Gordon barely listened to him, but answered. "I'm not going to move!" Gordon answered and quickly took his hand to his mouth. He began to regurgitate.

"Oh, no, no". Sylphid said with fear. "To the water, Gordon!"

The big man separated his hand from his mouth for a second. "I'm scared of the open sea!" He said and put his hand back.

Myu, annoyed, watched the scene and took his decision. He stood up with difficulty and put his hands and his right foot on the edge of the boat. The people in the boat stopped arguing and looked at him. Myu launched himself, jumped and smoothly landed in another moving boat.

"I hope you all are happy now!" Myu yelled from the other boat.

Aiacos, Gordon, Sylphid, and Minos looked at Myu in silence. The three men could finally sit comfortably. Myu just took a sit and crossed his arms. Pharaoh was at his side.

Myu looked at him and took a breath. "Are you okay?" Myu asked, seeing Pharaoh's clothes.

Pharaoh shrugged his shoulders. "I've had worst days". He was still sleepy.

The island was quickly disappearing in the horizon. The three boats headed to the nearest port in Northwind. All the memories and nightmares escaped with them and couldn't be left behind. It was going to be a hard time for them. What else was there in the future? No one knew. In Pandora's right ankle, under the skin, a small and dim red light began to flick.


	2. Chapter 2

He was walking on a green empty field. The sun was shining behind the thick layers of clouds. The song of the birds, the sounds of the nature flooded his ears. Radamanthys wondered what he was doing there and what place was that. Suddenly, he heard footsteps and infant laughs. A group of children was near, and when they saw the blond man looking at them the horror reflected in their eyes. They stepped back with fear.

"It's him." One of the kids whispered to the others.

"He is the monster!"

"The monster!" Another kid yelled.

"What?" Radamanthys asked confused, staring at each one of them. "Wh-"

The yells of the kids echoed in his head. Suddenly, he was surrounded by them.

"Monster! Monster!" They yelled.

Radamanthys was in shock. He felt so small and so vulnerable, as if he was a little kid. He started to run to nowhere. He was scared, and he knew he had no one. He fell between two bushes and hided there. The laughs and screams were disappearing in the distance.

The sound of water and seagulls woke him up. He opened his eyes and saw the sky. It wasn't grey anymore, but blue. The sun was still hiding, but the sight of blue left a good feeling in Radamanthys' soul.

Charon looked at them with tired eyes.

"We're getting close." Charon said. "It's been four hours. Wake up."

Four hours, Radamanthys repeated in his head. Even so, he couldn't know what time it was. He saw Pandora waking up and taking a sit. She was looking down and closed her legs nervously. She had to use a toilet, but didn't say anything, instead of that, she kept watching the ocean and how the waves calmly moved. The others were doing the same or were sleeping.

Lune squinted his eyes when he saw what he thought was land.

That silent, pacific moment, was interrupted by Charon's voice.

"Land!" Charon yelled. "We're saved!"

Everyone in the boats jumped and woke up. Then they saw the land.

"I can't believe it." Aiacos whispered.

"Can this thing go faster?" Myu asked.

"It has gone as fast as it can all this time". Aiacos answered.

Syphid poked his head on the right side of Aiacos to have a better look at the wheel and the speed lever.

"Are you sure?" Sylphid asked.

"Take a good look!" Aiacos answered a little desperate. "You can drive if you want."

"Oh, I don't think that's a good idea". Sylphid addressed, walking backwards.

The boats went as fast as they could to reach their destination. The group was tired and it was reflected in their eyes. They had no strength; they could barely walk and run a little. A question flooded his thoughts: what were they going to do now that they were free? How would they live?

The port looked closer, and so did the uncertainty. Pandora closed her fists as she saw the horizon. She bit her lip and her eyes turned red, a single tear slipped down her cheek. What would she do now? She had no one. She was alone and she was only 17. Her birthday had been on September 2. Pharaoh, who was now free of sedatives, noticed it, and could understood how she was feeling. They were both the youngest in the group and were in the same conditions. Northwinds was an unknown place for everyone. The only thing that kept them with hope was that they were no longer on that island. Discreetly, Pandora wiped out the tears. She didn't like people to see her like this. Now her face was turning red.

"I don't think we can separate once we're ashore." Pharaoh said quietly. Pandora looked at him, trying to hide the redness of her face with her hair.

"Do you think we can stay like this?" Pandora worried. "... Together?" Even though she was sad, her voice and eyes were firm.

"We are in the same situation as you." Pharaoh answered. "We can't just go. We don't belong anywhere.".

Pandora remained silent, thinking of Pharaoh's words. She waited until, finally, they came ashore.

The sand hit the boats and their bodies felt weird. Something inside it felt so different that their stomachs were stirred up when they thought of touching the sand. But they did. They got off the boats and felt the sand under their bare feet. Not the sand of the island, but the sand of the beach in Northwinds. They heard the vast hubbub in the distance. Above the beach was the street where few people walked. Nobody noticed them, and that made them feel better. They had bloodstains on their clothes. Blood! What were they going to do now?

"I-If someone sees us like this-" Queen gulped, but was interrupted.

"Let's stick to the wall." Lune advised, walking towards the wall where the waves would collide in a few more hours.

"Okay, let's take off our clothes" Minos said, looking with disgust at his clothes. Pandora directed her gaze towards him.

Lune gave Pandora a glance. He didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable. "I wouldn't recommend that." He said. "The weather is chilly."

"What do you mean? I'm Norwegian. This weather is not that cold." Minos said proudly.

"Uh, me too." Lune said with no interest in going on with the conversation.

Radamanthys interfered "Maybe we'll have more time to get to know each other better, but now we have to get out of this".

"We need a plan" Sylphid said.

The group unconsciously formed a circle.

"Okay, we need to get out of here without people noticing anything weird, and we need to do it fast". Radamanthys said as if he was the trainer of a high school football team. " Any suggestions?"

"What if we run one by one to a specific point?" Charon advised.

Radamanthys put his hand on his chin. "I don't know. We don't know this place, what if we get lost?"

Sylphid, who was focused thinking about what to do, realized that something was missing. "Wait a moment… Where is Gordon?" He asked, looking around.

A familiar voice came from behind some rocks.

"I am here. Don't come, I am… I am puking." Gordon answered, speaking with difficulty.

"Oh, okay, man. Good luck." Sylphid said and came back to the conversation. "What did I miss?"

Everyone was focused, thinking in a good plan. No one said a word. The noise of the beach could be heard perfectly, and between the clouds the sunset was seen. Finally, the cloudy day had a pinch of orange color, but It was getting late.

"Oh god, let's just run and ask for help!" Charon exasperated, putting his hands on his head.

"That would be-" Queen was silent, since that idea had given him a better idea. "Oh, Oh!"

Queen looked at Lune, whose clothes were immaculate. Lune looked at him, wondering what he was thinking. The others did the same as Lune.

"It's so simple!" Queen said. "Lune, you need to go up there and ask for directions".

"What? What would I say?"

"I don't know! Just ask where to find a clothing store. Then, when you get there, take all the clothes you can and-" Queen was interrupted by Lune.

"Wait, what? Do you want me to steal? "He asked, putting emphasis on the last word. "I am not that kind of person."

"Oh, god, you are so sweet! But this is no time for morality." Queen said. "You can save us! Just use your "super powers. "

The rest of the group glanced at each other. It wasn't a bad idea, since Lune could make himself and things he touched invisible. The waves were near. They hadn't reached the group yet, but they would. Gordon was already with the others and was talking with Sylphid about what was happening. What? Gordon's whispered with a grimace of disagreement. He then talked to the group, more specifically to Queen.

"Are you serious? Are you going to make him steal clothes for twelve people?" Gordon asked. That proposal sounded too ridiculous and dangerous. "Why don't we just take our hands, Lune touches us and makes us disappear? We can go to a safer place or even look for a shelter.

They all stopped their murmurs and desperate objections. They were so shocked by the question that was even funny. Everything was silent, an awkward silence full of intrigue and mystery. The mystery of why were they so stupid. Lune, who had been lost in his thoughts, came to himself and put his hand on his chin. Queen did the same thing. Damn, they thought, Gordon was right.

"Look," Lune said. "It is not a bad idea, but I'm not sure if I can make all of us disappear at the same time. Perhaps if we go in groups ..."

While Lune's face began to shine because of the wonderful idea they had given him, Pandora's cheeks turned red and her hands began to sweat. Her legs were shaking. She had to use a toilet now.

She turned around and ran to the sea, but went behind some rocks to not be seen as she entered the water. The others saw her run, wondering what was going on. Once in the water, Pandora felt very ashamed, but relieved because she had freed herself from her martyrdom.

"I wonder if she is okay." Myu whispered.

"Yeah, she is the only girl here." Valentine continued. "I think she feels uncomfortable being with us".

"I think she just needs space." Pharaoh said. "But I don't think we should leave her alone".

Pandora came back trembling a little with wet pants, but her face looked fresh. She didn't even care about the chilly weather. Valentine, Myu, Pharaoh and Aiacos, who were talking about her, kept silent and did not say anything until she approached.

"What did I miss?" She said firmly, hoping they wouldn't ask anything.

"Oh, well, I think we have a plan" Valentine said in a deep tone.

"Are you alright?" Myu asked.

"Yes, of course." Pandora answered with false security, inflating her chest and tilting her head.

While the small group were talking by its side, a desperate voice complained. It was Queen.

"Are we going to do it, or what?" He asked with his arms crossed. "I don't want to sleep here tonight".

"Um, basically, we could use our abilities to keep us dry and warm, y'know?" Charon said.

"All right…" said Lune. He walked towards a staircase that faced onto the street. He wasn't sleeping there tonight either. He stepped on the first step, swallowed, and stepped on the second. First things first: Look at the panorama. No one had gone upstairs to see what was up there, maybe it was full of people, maybe not. When he reached the last step he swung to the left and stood still.

Lune felt how its body froze quickly when he saw three black Cadillacs in front of him. Three men dressed in black suits went down the vehicles and stopped at a considerable distance. One of them had glasses and looked like he was in his 40's, he was the closest to Lune. He didn't move, he just stared at them and searched for any weapon. They had them, each one had a handgun in their belts. They had closed the street and now no one was passing by. It seemed like a bad sign to Lune.

"Hey," The man with the glasses said, waving at Lune. He didn't look very professional. "Keep calm, we're not going to hurt you".

Those guns didn't made Lune felt like his was telling the truth. He saw another man, he had a slender body and was tall. He was young, and looked nervous. The man felt Lune's eyes on him and put his hand on his belt, near the gun.

"What are you looking at?" The nervous man said.

"Keep quiet, James." The man with glasses said without stop looking at Lune. "Forgive him, he is new. As I was saying, we're not going to hurt you or your friends. We come to help you."

They knew Lune wasn't alone. Did they hear them? How is it that they didn't realize that the vehicles were here? Lune stood still. The rest of the group was attentive to what was going on. Radamanthys ran to the first step, but Aiacos took it from his arm.

"Do you speak english?" The third man said in a heavy British accent. He was a little fat and had a mustache.

"Yes" Lune said in a low voice.

"Tell your friends they have nothing to worry about. We are going to take you home!" The man in the glasses said.

Home. That sweet word danced through the ears of the group of people down there. Radamanthys broke loose from Aiacos' grip and went with Lune. When the men saw Radamanthys, the youngest one tensed his body.

"Calm down" Radamanthys said. With his sharp gaze, he could be intimidating without effort. "I… We just want to talk with you".

"That's my line" The man with glasses said. "As I was saying, we are not bad people. And I know you aren't either.

Radamanthys looked at Lune, and Lune was looking at him. Then, Lune turned his head to the man near them.

"You said you are going to take us home." Lune said. He was more relaxed now.

"Yes, we are part of a... secret organization." The man said, speaking in a low voice. "We dedicate ourselves to help people like you."

"Like us." Radamanthys repeated.

"Mutants" Said the man with the mustache.

Yes, they were mutants, but not by choice. They were born that way. That word was still hard to accept to them.

"What you have is a gift." said the man with glasses.

"A gift that has cost us a lot." Radamanthys clenched his fists. "I would call it a curse."

The present people kept silent for a moment. The men in black didn't know what to say.

"Oh, but how rude of me," said the men with glasses, breaking the silence. "I am Thomas. They are James and Lewis." They made a salute with their hands.

The two mutants only nodded as a greeting. The weather was getting colder. Lewis sighed.

"So, are ya coming with us? We're really telling the truth. We'll take you to a place where you can stay and rest."

"Could you please call the others who are with you? Tell them it's safe to come." Thomas gave them a warm smile.

Radamanthys continued observing those men with their deep and menacing golden eyes, then, directed his head where the others were. He made a move with his hand for them to come. They obeyed and went upstairs. They whispered to each other, telling what to do if something happened. The three men were surprised at the number of people climbing up the stairs, they didn't think they were that many. The presence of blood in their clothing surprised them. Even so, they were willing to help them.

"You have guns." said Pandora with a touch of innocence. She put her eyes on James, who was trembling.

"Stop looking at me!" He yelled.

Minos raised his hand to get everyone's attention. Once he got it, he cleared his throat.

"Listen" Minos stood firm and menacing. "If you try to do something to us, I'll kill you, I'll kill all three of you. Understood?" He stared at the young man. "I can prove I'm not lying". His face looked intense, even frightening. The man was getting more nervous and touched his gun with the tip of his fingers. He still tried to look professional.

"Stop! I'm going to-"

"Honestly, James, shut it." Thomas put his hand on his forehead and sighed. "The guns are for the safety of all of us. Now could we please not kill anyone? James?.. You?" He looked at Minos.

Minos didn't say a word.

"We are going to help you." Thomas repeated. "If you stay here you could be in danger". He checked the street to see if people was coming, but lucky it was empty.

"Why?" Queen asked.

"Oh, we will tell you soon. Get in the cars, please." Lewis said.

James opened his car's doors and invited them to come in. The others split into groups of four and carefully entered the cars, without taking their eyes off the three men. There was a moment of awkward silence on each of the vehicles when they turned on the engines.

The "mutants" knew what to do if something didn't go the way they expected. For now, they just let themselves be carried away by strangers. The vehicles moved.

In James' car, Pharaoh was seated in the seat next to James. In the back seats was the "pink trio", Queen, Myu and Valentine. The young officer was concentrated in the road when he felt a pair of eyes on him. 'Fuck' he thought. He gave a quick look to his left and caught a glimpse of pharaoh watching him. He swallowed saliva. He looked again and saw him, this time the lad gave him a little malicious grin. The poor man pressed its lips and sighed heavily.

Meanwhile, in another car, Sylphid had a leg over Gordon's, who hoarded a seat and a half. Minos looked out the window. Charon had his arms crossed in the co-pilot's seat. Lewis was driving quietly.

Those were nice cars, well taken care of. The only "bad thing" was that the seats had black leather cases, which made them look cool, but cold. Good thing the heating was on.

In the other car, Radamanthys was in the passenger seat. Pandora looked at the landscape by the window along with Aiacos. Lune quietly observed Thomas. On its left side were tall pines, on its right side, where there was a rock wall before, the city was seen. In the distance there were large and eye-catching neon signs that contrasted with the night and more cars.

"I hope you feel comfortable." Thomas said. "Again, I assure you that you can feel safe with us. We know what you have been through."

"Oh, really?" Radamanthys didn't take his eyes off the front.

"Yes. Was it difficult to escape from that island?"

"What?" Radamanthys said surprised.

The others turned to see the officer.

"How do you know that?" Asked Lune, as surprised as Radamathys.

"Easy, you're being watched." the man smiled.

"What do you mean by "watched"?" Pandora had her eyes open like a doll.

"Don't worry, miss. We are not breaking into your privacy as you think. I meant that you guys are being tracked."

"Tracked!" repeated Aiacos.

"But, how-" Lune was interrupted.

"We have a leader. Mr. Hades," said Thomas.

"Is that his real name?" Asked Pandora.

"I don't think so. No one knows his real name." answered Thomas.

"Do you trust a man who hasn't told you his real name?" Radamanthys frowned.

Thomas sighed and smiled nostalgically. "He has done a lot things for us."

Pandora felt strangely better about being in that car. The colorful lights of the city's nightlife called her attention. They were now in a street where there were many shops and bars. The girls of the night displayed their bright and sensual garments. The business men were walking in haste among the people. The youth laughed and hoarded the sidewalks.

"You may not get to know him as we do, but I assure you that he will give you everything you need. Oh, about the tracing, Mr. Hades has his secrets well kept. It's all I will say." Thomas smiled.

The rest of the group didn't say anything. The man looked pretty reliable.

"Hey" Aiacos said. "What about the danger out there?"

"Yeah, why are we in danger?" Pandora got near the front seat to listen better.

Thomas looked at her through the rearview mirror and shook his head. "There is danger in every city. Even in this one, of course. The dangers lurk once the night falls." He said in a whispering voice.

Radamanthys just stared at him. Pandora and Aiacos looked at each other. Lune raised an eyebrow.

"But, isn't there a specific danger… to us?" Lune asked.

"Oh, lad, maybe it is." Thomas answered.

"What?" Radamanthys asked.

"I'm sure my colleagues have already told your friends about the information I just gave them. Or I hope so. We are getting close to our destination now." He said in his usual voice.

The city was left behind and the pines appeared again to led the way. At the sides several houses of all shapes and sizes, quite separated from each other, were surrounded by forest. The road continued, leaving the houses behind. They went up a hill, the sea could be heard in the distance, and it felt great. Five minutes later, the vehicles lowered their speed and went up a small slope, which led to a big, white house surrounded by nature. The cars stopped and the doors were open.

"Welcome home, folks" Said Lewis, holding one of the back doors.

The group came down from the vehicles to that unknown place. They observed the house attentively.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! For now they are a little short, but I'll work harder on them! Thank you for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ages of the specters in this fic:
> 
> Pandora: 17, Radamanthys: 23, Minos: 23, Aiacos: 22, Lune: 21, Queen: 19, Pharaoh: 18~19 , Myu: 19, Sylphid: 20, Gordon: 21, Valentine: 20, Charon 39.
> 
> I'll be putting the ages of the characters. That's all. Enjoy :)
> 
>  
> 
> Wild world - Yusuf / Cat Stevens

The newcomers were stunned seeing the house. It was pretty big, a little old-fashioned, but that didn't matter. The house had a front garden. The front door was white as the rest of the house and had some decorative crystals.

"Well, folks," Thomas said. "we can't stay here all night, so we'll just leave you to settle in the house, okay? The keys, James." He raised his hand, waiting for his colleague to hand over the keys. James handed the keys to him, and he handed them to Radamanthys.

The men went up to their vehicles and turned on the engines. "Have a great night," said Thomas. "Pay attention to what He is going to say." The confused group saw them getting away and getting lost among the pines.

"Thank you!" Gordon yelled.

"Ah, yes! Thank you!" Radamanthys yelled. He was distracted thinking in what the hell just had happened.

Oh, the silence again. They remained standing in their places for a few seconds, with the sounds of the forest surrounding them, until Queen spoke.

"Why are we still here?" He asked.

"I don't know." Charon said

Radamanthys walked to the entrance of the house and opened the was surprised, the house was in good condition. The others entered with curiosity, looking all over. In front of the entrance door there was ample space, the hallway, and a few steps further there was a wall separating the living room and dining-room from the stairs and two other rooms. Those two rooms were the TV room and a small, cozy studio which had shelves full of books and a desk with an IBM personal computer. The kitchen was well equipped; the only thing missing was food. The living room looked comfortable, with orange and pink small cushions, and next to it was a glass door facing the backyard, where there was an empty pool with dead leaves inside. Back there was a white fence. But the most impressive thing was that next to the pool was a small room separated from the house, inside there was a small gym. Aiacos, Minos and Gordon, who were exploring the place, let out an "Ooh" when they saw it. The exercise Equipment was covered with white mantles to protect them from the dust.

"This… this is my dream, guys" Gordon had his mouth open with bliss. "At first it was the pool, but this?! This is another level.

"That Mr. Hades must be very rich." Said Minos nodding.

"I thought that by just seeing the house from the outside." Said Aiacos.

Gordon gasped. "Let's go see the bedrooms".

The second floor of the house was divided into two aisles in which were the rooms. One of those hallways had a staircase leading to a third floor, an attic. The group ran like children to the doors to select a bedroom. The bedrooms were not very big, not very small, just the perfect size, and had a bed protected by a plastic protector, a night table and a dressing table. Basic stuff.

Pandora, who avoided running, went straight to the staircase. The third floor was small and there was only one door, she opened it and she was delighted to see a place as spacious as the attic. She came in. There was furniture covered by more white blankets and lots of dust. She removed one of the blankets and discovered a bed. It was perfect.

"What's in here?" Radamanthys came in suddenly.

"I want this room." Said Pandora, without looking at him.

"I like it. A little dusty, but good." He said, looking out of a round window from which he could see the front garden. He turned his head to her. "Sorry, what was your name?"

She looked at him, and after a couple of seconds she answered. "Pandora".

Queen entered the room running, he looked tired, but cheerful. "Woah! What is this? It's amazing."

"This will be my room," said Pandora smiling, putting her hands together.

"I love it. Hey, I found some clean clothes in one of the service cabinets, maybe you guys want to-"

"All of you need to come here right the fuck now!"

That had been Charon. The three people looked at each other in a mix of surprise and concern and ran to the TV room, where the scream came from.

Charon was in front of the television watching it carefully. There was static, but little by little it was forming an image: himself watching the television, but from another angle. When everyone came into the TV room, Charon looked at the corner and saw a little camera.

"W-We are being observed." Charon was impressed.

The image changed, now there was only one fancy red curtain with golden edges.

"That's right." A male voice spoke from the TV.

The newcomers looked at it with curiosity.

Valentine, Sylphid, Gordon, Pharaoh and Minos, sat in the armchairs to observe what was happening.

"What is this?" asked Valentine, thinking it was a weird tv show.

"This is a live transmission." The voice spoke again.

"The bloody TV is talking to us." Gordon said, impressed.

"Well, you can see it that way." The voice continued to say. It sounded deep, but soft and elegant. "I am the owner of this house".

"Are you Mr. Hades?" Asked Pandora.

"Yes, I am".

He was The One. That man so rich he had a personal gym in his house. But, why didn't he show his face? Was he behind that red curtain?

"Where are you?" Asked Pandora.

"That's a secret. But what is not, is that you have escaped that island successfully. Congratulations." He clapped. "How does freedom feel after two years?"

"I have had a couple of orgasms since I got here." Minos said. Some of the people there smiled and nodded.

"Sounds good." He said, satisfied with that answer.

"How do you know that?" Radamanthys asked, getting near the Tv.

"Because I know who you are." He answered. "It's no secret now, that you're being watched over by me."

"But how?!" Charon was desperate.

"That's another secret." He said like if Charon's despair was funny to him.

The group looked at each other without knowing what to say. All of this, although it was a dream come true, was quite strange.

"Why so serious?" Said Mr. Hades. "If you are asking yourselves if you should trust me, then my answer would be: Absolutely."

"Hades". Radamanthys interrupted and closed his fist. "Do you think they're going to chase us? You know… the people from the laboratory.

Hades took a while to answer. "That's something I can't control, but I'll do my best to help you. I best thing you can do now is to keep a low profile and mingle with the crowd. That'll help.

It was obvious that the least they wanted was for them to be caught and taken back to the lab. Any place was better than that.

"Thank you for the advice. But, Mr. Hades, we know nothing about you. That concerns me a little." Pandora said, playing with his hands.

"You're right, you don't know anything about me, but I do know about you. Funny, isn't it? No, you don't have to worry. If you are where you are then it's something good. I've always liked to help those who need it, you know? After all, I was once in your place." He kept silent for a few seconds.

Pharaoh broke the silence. "So… you are…"

"Like you? Yes." He answered and kept silence again, and then he spoke. "Enough of this. Do you have any questions about the house? That's the only thing I will answer now"

They all looked at each other again. Radamanthys pressed his lips. He wanted to know more about his safety and how to prevent a problem from happening. He'd have to fix it by himself.

"I have one. Well, it's not a question, but anyways," Valentine went near the television rubbing his arm with his hand. "There are eight rooms and not enough beds."

"It's true." Continued Myu. "Will we have to share?" He said as if it was a hard thing to do.

"Oh, my apologies. Even knowing how many of you were, I didn't think about building more rooms. You'll have to share."

"Apologies!" exclaimed Charon. "You are ungrateful bastards!"

Valentine and Myu looked down like if their dad was giving them a telling-off.

"I'm joking," Hades said in a monotonous and dry tone. "If you see the door that is to the right of the patio door, you will see that it is not a restroom. There are stairs that go down to the other rooms".

Mouths were opened with surprise.

"Alright. More questions?"

"Yes, I have one" Gordon spoke. "Why is there no food in the kitchen? I'm starving!"

"We are starving" Aiacos said, touching his belly.

"I'm sorry about that, apparently my men didn't have time to fill the kitchen with food, but if you go to the kitchen and open the first cabinet on the bottom you will see a big box with enough money to buy what you think is necessary. Maybe 4000 pounds. Is that okay?"

Charon put his hand on his chest. "Did you say money?"

"Yes. Did you guys think I was going to let you live in my house without money?"

That had exceeded the barrier of the surreal. Money? Free money? Or so it seemed. While Charon was delighted to receive the money, Lune hesitated. Still, Charon, Gordon and Aiacos went into the kitchen and found a large gray box in one of the cabinets. Aiacos opened it and there it was. Charon began to count and when he finished he almost fainted.

Aiacos grabbed Charon's shoulder. "Easy, man, or you will be seeing God in no time."

"I am with God now." Charon said watching the money.

Gordon ran to the TV room to share the good news. "4000 pounds" He said nodding.

"So, that money can help us live very well for a while, right? Radamanthys said.

Pharaoh looked at everyone cheering and approached Myu. "How much is that?" He whispered.

"A lot." Myu whispered back.

Pharaoh turned away satisfied with the answer.

"Thank you for making sure it was the right amount." Said Hades. "Well, gentlemen, if there's no other question for now, I'll retire. I'm sure we will talk again".

"Wait" Said Radamanthys. He thought about it for a few seconds, and then spoke. "Who are we?"

Again, silence. That question made them think. A very important thing was their names. What were their names? They wondered. All of them had been presented before with a name, but was that their real name?

"I've known you since they were in that place. I know almost everything about you. Your names... are truly a mystery." Hades paused and sighed. "Once someone becomes a victim of that place, they become someone else. They have unknown methods to get to change a person." Hades made another pause, waiting for someone else to speak. Then he continued. "But, well, that question is something you will have to discover yourselves. You have plenty of time. Now, time to go."

"I see." Radamanthys spoke low.

"Oh! Thank you for reminding me. If you go to the studio you will find a big white box on the big shelves. Open contains important documents and stuff that will be very useful. Now, time to go. See you later."

And before someone had the opportunity to said something the television turned off and the group was watching its own reflection on the screen.

"He… seems like a good person." Said Aiacos.

"I guess he is." Minos nodded.

"I can't believe he changed our lives in just one day". Queen said with a sigh, sitting on a sofa.

"I'm still a little concerned about this situation" said Lune.

"Me too." Said Pandora.

"We have plenty of time to investigate about this situation." Radamanthys said in a soothing voice. "For now let's do what Hades said."

The rest of the group nodded and they went to the studio. Some of them went to the living room. Minos, Sylphid, Pharaoh, Valentine, Myu and Gordon sat down tiredly on the sofas.

In the studio, Radamanthys grabbed the big white box from which Hades had spoken and put it on the desk. The box looked new and impeccable, as if it had been put there that very day. The blond man opened it and looked at the papers inside.

"It's information about the house. Address, year of construction, and... Who's Harold Hammond? It says here he owns the house."

"Perhaps it is a pseudonym for Mr. Hades. He owns this House and we don't know his real name." Lune assumed reading the paper that Radamanthys was holding.

"Yes, it must be it".

Radamanthys took the last papers that were in the box and read it.

'Since you rejoin the 'real world', owning nothing, I recommend you take a few photos for your new IDs. I'm sure you'll need them. The officers will take care of the rest.'

The people in the studio looked at each other and nodded. They needed IDs.

"This is the last paper" Radamanthys said. "It's about you, Pandora".

The aforementioned looked up and extended her hand to the paper. She read it quietly.

"An education." She mused. "I can continue my studies."

"Yes, you even have a school. Here." Radamanthys pointed his finger at the name of the school.

"Northwinds Multicultural Institute" Pandora read with a spark in her eyes.

Meanwhile, in the living room, the others were patiently waiting for the rest.

"Why are they taking so much?" Minos raised his hands desperately and crossed his legs.

"By the way." Valentine got up off the couch. "Why don't we go buy some food? I saw a super market a few blocks from here."

"The Food!" Exclaimed Gordon. "Thank you for worrying about that, Val. I agree with him." He got up from the couch energetically.

"Okay, just let me tell the others." Said Valentine.

Just when he was going to the studio, the others came out of there.

"We'll go for food at the nearest supermarket." Said Valentine. "If you need anything you can ask for it."

"I want to go!" Charon said. "And by the way, I'll handle the money. I won't let it go to waste." He ruled pointing at everyone.

"As you wish". Stuttered Valentine with eyes wide open to Charon's attitude.

Charon, Valentine, Gordon, Queen, Pharaoh, and Myu were the ones that agreed to go to the super market. They left the house, not without changing their clothes to a basic outfit. The least they wanted was to draw attention.

They scarcely walked a few steps when the door of the house opened. Pandora walked quickly to them.

"I hope you don't mind if I go with you." He said Pandora removing a few strands of hair from her face.

"Sure, come with us." Said Valentine giving her a little smile.

Inside the house, the living room was illuminated by a couple of lamps, giving it a warm and cozy ambience. Lune came out of the service room with a broom, a dustpan and three rags.

"Now that they are going to buy food for all of us, we should at least clean the house."

The nordic man extended his arms towards Minos and Sylphid, hoping that they would grab the cleaning tools. Minos looked at him contemptuously.

"I hope you're not thinking about cleaning up the whole house."

"Then you can just lie down on a dusty mattress if that's what you wish."

Minos sighed resigned and took the dustpan and the broom, then got near Sylphid.

"I will hold the dustpan."

Sylphid rolled his eyes and took the broom.

The automatic doors of the super market opened. The place was large, the floor was white and the walls were white and orange with some designs of colored stripes. The echo of the song Ain't Nobody, by Chaka Khan, sounded all over the place. There were still few people, despite being almost ten o'clock in the evening. The closing time was shown on a sign: Eleven o'clock.

Charon took a cart and began to walk it through the halls. The others looked at the shelves full of food. They thought they could take anything, as they were starving. In the bakery area, Gordon and Valentine were picking all the breads that looked delicious.

"That one too." Valentine pointed to chocolate-filled bread.

"Another bread filled with chocolate?" Gordon asked, who was carrying a tray with at least twelve pieces of bread.

"I like chocolate." Valentine didn't even look at Gordon, as he was deciding what other piece to take. "Do you know when the last time I ate chocolate was?"

Gordon shrugged his shoulders. "Fair."

In another hallway, Pandora was taking a look at the cereals. Pharaoh and Myu were arguing about whether to bring strawberry jam or chocolate cream to spread over toasted bread.

Queen was in the aisle of fruits and vegetables; he was carrying bags full of bananas, apples and melons and put them in the shopping cart. Charon had a bottle of red wine in his hand and was examining the label. He took two bottles and put them in the shopping cart too.

After almost an hour of shopping, they all went to one of the cash registers. There, Charon examined what the others had chosen to carry. He paused while taking one of the shopping cart things.

"Who bought so much sweet bread? Looks like there's at least 30 pieces in this bag!

"There are twenty four pieces of bread." Valentine answered. "Hey, we are a lot of people". He justified himself, without clarifying that six of those pieces were for him.

Charon left the bag in the cart and scratched his head. "Fine, whatever."

Pandora glanced at the shelves near the cash register and saw a package of sanitary pads. She took it quickly, that caused it to slip out of his hands. She had to made quick moves so it wouldn't fall to the floor. Pharaoh's looks and hers clashed, but Pandora deflected her gaze quickly and straightened her back, walked up to the cart and left the package in it. She could feel the shame inside her.

"We can go now". Charon said after their items were put inside plastic bags.

By the time they were coming out, a heavy looking man of about forty years old with a bad smell of alcohol entered the super market, as if he was looking for something. The woman in the cash register saw him and rolled her eyes. She approached another of the employees.

"Dan, do you want me to call the police again?" She complained.

The man began to shout because of his drunkenness. He was asking for a bottle of Whiskey. One of the employees, a shy looking young man, approached him.

"I'm so sorry sir, we are about to close." He said pointing at the sign on the entrance.

"You want me dead, don't you?" The man spoke with an uneven tone.

"Sir, don't talk nonsense. We-"

"I said I want a bottle of whiskey! Can you bring me a bottle?" He yelled.

The employees tried to keep calm while the woman was talking on the phone. The drunk glared at her and approached her violently. The woman dropped the phone.

The group who was about to leave stopped. Queen and Myu shared desperate looks.

"Should we do something?" Asked Queen nervously.

"What we can do? We can't, you know…" Myu rubbed his hands both because of the cold and nervousness.

Before anyone could do anything, the man who was already about to attack the woman slipped with a puddle of water. Apparently there was a leak in one of the mini-refrigerators that were near the cash registers, a leak that nobody noticed. The employees were able to keep the man on the floor, depriving him of the ability to move.

"What was that?" Gordon asked.

"I don't know, let's leave now". Charon hastened.

They left the super market. Outside was cold and a little dark. The lanterns were scarce and were spread all the way to the houses inside the forest. The lights got lost among the pines. The weather was really cold in the last months of the year. Snow could begin to fall any day. Charon kept the secret that he had been the one who put the water of the leak near the feet of that man.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The investigation begins. The people of Northwinds have some opinions about the mutants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a tuff life - Pat Benatar

It was half-past eleven. The people who had gone to the supermarket found the house almost clean when they arrived. Lune was cleaning and accommodating kitchen utensils one by one. At this point, he was the only one still cleaning. Charon, Gordon and Myu placed the bags full of food and other products on the island of the kitchen. Minos, Sylphid, Radamanthys and Aiacos were lying in the living room. Cleaning so much had left them exhausted.

The night passed quietly. Gordon and Charon cooked pasta. Gordon turned out to be a good cook. When the food was ready everyone, without exception, devoured their dishes without pausing. They even ate the food that fell from their plates to the table.  
When they finished they couldn't believe how full they were. They hadn't eaten like that in over two years. At that time, it was the best feeling in the world.

Pandora was very concentrated eating; her eyes remained closed while doing it. A few tears began to well up, and she strove not to weep. She kept on eating and avoided opening her eyes, and without saying anything, wiped her tears with her sweater sleeve. Lune, who sat beside her, thought of consoling her, but did not know how. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It's going to be fine". He whispered. 

Pandora had her head down. She was too embarrassed to move, but she couldn't stop crying. 

"Pandora, don't cry." Sobbed Queen between teeth. His eyes got watery. 

Pandora remained in silence, waiting for her mind to clear. She could hear whispers surrounding her, trying to cheer her up. 

Outside the house, the weather got colder and started raining. 

Pandora opened her eyes and saw a bright light on the ceiling that warped because of her blurred vision. She turned her head to her right and saw a group of men wearing white robes. She was seated in a reclining chair, in a place with grey and high walls. She turned her head to her right and saw a group of men wearing white robes. She opened her eyes wide, exalted, she tried to move but her body did not respond. One of those men approached her and looked into her eyes.

The man, who was wearing a surgical mask, covered her eyes with a bandage.

"You're not trying anything this time."

Pandora woke up. She settled herself in the bed. She was contemplating the roof of her new room, thinking about that dream. ‘No,’ she thought. ‘A nightmare’, which sadly wasn't just a product of a bad dream. 

8 o'clock in the morning. Radamanthys was sitting on one of the chairs of the island of the kitchen. He was holding the papers of the school to which Pandora would attend. Gordon danced to the rhythm of Aretha Franklin's ' I say a little prayer ' while cooking a huge breakfast for everyone. He had found a record player inside a drawer, and luckily, some vinyl discs too. 

“This omelete is going to be huge!” Gordon said, shaking his hips and moving the spatula.

Aiacos went down the stairs and went to the kitchen.  
"Something smells good" he sniffed pleasantly. "What do you have there?" He asked, observing Radamanthys reading the papers.

“I'm concerned because I don't know the streets. Also, it says here that the cut-off date for Pandora to attend is October 2nd.”

“That's…“

“Tomorrow. Today is Monday. The classes started two weeks ago!”

“Wow, Will they still accept her?” Aiacos was already grabbing a plate from the cupboard. 

“These papers say Pandora is already a student, but she had to fly to Germany for family issues. She needs to be there tomorrow.” 

“He really had it planned”. Gordon said. “I hope the others wake up soon, or the food is going to get cold.”

Queen came out of the door that was next to the door that led to the backyard. He yawned and sat down. 

"Gordon, you're amazing." Queen was stunned watching the frying pans is full of omelets. 

Minos came to the kitchen too. While the others were still wearing basic white shirts as pajamas, he was dressed to go out. He was wearing a brown plain shirt and a gray sweater with jeans and brown boots. 

"I'm very hungry. Does anyone want to go with me for a walk to know the nearby streets?"

"I want to go, but I need to talk to Pandora about her new school.” Complained Radamanthys

“I'll go with you”. The voice of Lune sounded behind Minos.” Knowing the streets is a very important task. If you wish I can make some notes for you, Radamanthys. 

“Thank you.” Radamanthys left the papers on the table and began to eat. 

Up the stairs, in the middle of the long corridor, Charon was knocking insistently the bathroom door. Myu was taking a shower. 

"Hey, we better not run out of hot water! Hurry up!”

Pandora was going down the stairs and saw Charon. She wanted to tell him she had her own bathroom upstairs, but was a little shy about it. Then went down to the kitchen. She was wearing a dark blue blouse, a white sweater and black pants. Radamanthys just had finished his breakfast when Pandora got there. 

“Good morning.” He said in a dry tone.

“Good morning”. 

“We need to talk about your new school”. 

“Let her have breakfast first.” Gordon said serving her a dish. 

“We can talk while I eat.” She said in her usual low voice. She sat down and straightened her back. 

Gordon had had enough of waiting and had left home. Lune and Minos had gone out as well.

“Aight.” Radamanthys said. “You're going to start tomorrow.

Pandora was surprised. She grabbed a lock of her hair and put it behind her ear,then she gave her first bite and waited. 

“I- I'm not prepared. Should I buy a notebook?”

“I guess.” Radamanthys answered. “It's going to be your first day. I don't think you need to worry too much about that. 

Radamanthys' voice tone was hard to decipher. He looked tired. Not so deep inside him, he knew he didn't want to take care of a teenager. 

"Listen," Radamanthys proceeded. "Obviously you're not going to talk about the real reason you didn't attend class the first two weeks. You are a normal girl who is from Germany and wants to catch up with the class. 

Pandora nodded while he talked. 

“I will buy some school supplies.” Pandora said finishing her dish. “I can go to the supermarket”. 

“Sounds like a good idea” Radamanthys got up. “Queen can go with you.”

Queen, with a full mouth, looked at him, then at Pandora, and nodded. 

“I'll go to change.” 

Radamanthys went upstairs. 

Meanwhile, Minos and Lune were walking along the Forest road. There weren't many cars around. The morning was cold and the sky was gray.

“What a lovely weather” Said Minos sarcastically. “And the view is interesting with all these pines that look all the same. 

“Do you think so? I think it looks a little gloomy.” Lune added.

Minos looked at him with a serious face and rolled his eyes. 

“Of course” He answered. 

“Look.” Lune said, pointing at a sign. “This zone is called The forest’s backbone”. 

“That would be a good name for a horror movie”. 

A police car that was coming in the opposite direction stopped at their side. The car window was lowered by the officer inside the car. 

"Good morning, lads.” 

“Good morning, sir.” They both greeted at the same time. 

“Do you live near here?” 

“Yes.” Answered Lune.

“We just moved here yesterday”. Minos said. 

“Aight. Look, I don't want to scare you or anything, but be careful out there. Some strange things had happened.” The officer spoke with a lively voice. 

“What do you mean?” Asked Lune. “If I can ask.”

“Well, I see you haven't watched the local news. A night club was attacked three days ago.” He made a dramatic pause. “And by what people say it was caused by some weird folks.” 

Minos and Lune stared at each other. 

“What do you mean with ‘weird’” Minos asked.

“I don't like to talk about something I know almost nothing about, but people call them mutants, or monster people. They seem to have super powers or… or something.” He began to stutter.

“I see.” Said Lune in a low voice. “How many attacks of that kind had occurred?”

“Just two, but this one was a big one. Someone made the place explode. Luckily, no one died! 

“And the other one?”

“Robbery. No guns involved, only property damage”. 

“I see.” Said Lune nodding. “We will be very careful then. We didn't know about this.”

“This is usually a very peaceful town. But since those ‘mutants’ are here…” He stopped and sighed. “It is very difficult to identify them, as they look like normal people. Oh, I should go now.” He said looking at the watch in his wrist. 

“Thank you, officer”. Lune said, stepping back. 

“See you later, lads. Be careful!”

The car went its way and got lost in the fog.

Pandora was standing in front of a dusty mirror in her bedroom. He began to comb her long dark hair with her fingers while asking herself if she could make it. Someone knocked the door. 

“Yes?”

“Uh, it's me, Queen. Are you ready to go?”

“Yes, just give me a second”. 

She was ready. She put on her white shoes and opened the door. 

“Let's go”. Pandora said. 

“Alright. Uh…” Queen started thinking while they went down the stairs of the attic. “What if we take this opportunity to buy some clothes? I don't want to wear generic and plain colored shirts the rest of my life.” He gave her a shy smile. 

“Good idea.” She answered, giving back the same smile. 

Suddenly, Myu opened his bedroom door. 

“Can I go?” He said smiling.

“Of course!” Queen answered. “Hurry up, I want to get out of here”. 

Meanwhile, in the garage, Gordon discovered something wonderful. He ran inside of the house and saw the trio in front of the main door. 

“Oh, where are you going?” Gordon asked. 

“Pandora needs school supplies and I thought it was a good idea to buy some clothes”. Queen opened the door.

“Clothes?!” Gordon opened his eyes. “Can I go?”

“Yeah, hurry up.” 

Gordon walked quickly, but stopped, remembering something. 

“Oh, I almost forget!” He put his hand on his head. “There's a car in the garage”. 

The group went to the garage and saw a semi new blue Ford Sierra. It was free of dust thanks to the blanket that protected it. A common car for common people.

Gordon sat behind the wheel. Queen sat in the co-pilot’s seat and Myu and Pandora sat in the back seats. The tall man turned on the engine. 

“Wow, do you know how to drive?” Queen asked. 

“Well, I must remember something.” Gordon laughed, fixed the front mirror and put on the seat belt. 

“Uh-” 

Before Myu could say something, Gordon stepped on the pedal and the car moved, first braking with violence, but then it went on normally. 

Radamanthys got out of the house thanks to the noises that the card had made, but he thought it had been the noise of a car that had passed in front of the house. He was wearing gray pants, a gray sweater, white tennis and a white shirt. He started to jog through the street. Just a normal man exercising in the morning. 

Charon walked out of the bathroom feeling clean and nice. He went down the stairs humming a song. Ignoring the fact that Myu almost leaves him without hot water, he was in a good mood. He went to the kitchen, turned to the right and jumped of surprise when he unexpectedly saw Pharaoh standing there, holding a bowl of cereal. 

“You scared me!” Charon put his hand on his chest.

The boy smirked as he chewed and went up the stairs.

“Dammit, I swear this youth…” He cursed while he walked to the stove.

“Who are you talking to?”

Charon leaped to the side, with his hand still on his chest. He saw Aiacos. 

“Stop appearing like that!” He yelled. “Can you appear and disappear or something?”

“Sorry.” Aiacos apologized, but deep inside he was laughing. “I can run fast”. 

Aiacos opened the refrigerator and took a can of yellow cheese. He put it in his mouth and pressed. Charon opened his mouth in disgust. 

“Oh, right.” Aiacos savored slowly. “Radamanthys and Lune had a conversation yesterday while we were cleaning. Do you want some?” He extended the can to Charon. 

“No… thanks. What did they say?”

“The money we have now is not going to be here forever, of course, so we must look for a job. No matter how simple it could be.”

“Oh, I thought about that too. I mean, it is inevitable to need more money. We are many people after all.”

“Let's continue this conversation when everyone is here”. Aiacos pressed the can one more time and savored again. He left it in the refrigerator and closed it. “I'll go wake up the others. It's already 10 o'clock.”

“Yes, you do that”. Charon was still disgusted, but proceeded to have breakfast. 

Gordon, Myu, Queen and Pandora arrived at the shopping center. The place was pretty big; a little crowded and had several planters in the middle of the corridors with beautiful palms and flowers. The floor was made of white marble. It had two floors, and from where they were standing they could see the food court. 

Queen was amazed for being there. He took a fast look at all the stores.

“Let's walk." He commanded without taking his eyes off the shop windows.

"Where can I buy school supplies here? The place is pretty big." Pandora asked doing the same.

"There must be a stationer's here." Gordon said.

"Can we go there first?" Myu pointed at a striking clothing store. "The outfits in the mannequins look interesting".

"Great decision, Myu!” Queen made them walk faster.

“I mean, I'm not a fashion expert, but...” Myu shrugged his shoulders.

Pandora stared at Myu for a while. He noticed it and looked at her. 

"Excuse me, but can I ask you a question?" She asked timidly.

Myu smiled sideways. "Is it about my eyes?"

“Yes. I'd like to know how you do it so people won't stare at you. Were you born with them?” 

"I can create an illusion for them to see them as normal eyes."

Pandora raised her eyebrows in a sign of astonishment. "Then your skill is to make illusions?"

"Something like that. Actually, it's quite strange. I can control insects, create illusions, and even float. “He paused and took his hand to his chin. “I'd say they're fairy powers."

“Fairy powers.” Pandora repeated. 

“I don't really remember anything before that lab, so I don't know if I was born this way.”

Pandora nodded and looked down. She didn't remember anything about her life before the lab. The voices of Queen and Gordon took her out of her thoughts. They were already inside the store. The two of them were discussing about clothes and what they should buy. 

They spend at least two hours buying clothes. They even bought clothes for the others. Queen had bought shirts and pants of many colors and patterns. He got excited and also helped Pandora with her outfits. Pandora had chosen long skirts, jeans and sweaters. All of them had dark colors that contrasted with her pale skin. Queen tried to convince her to buy another one with a different color, but he just could make her buy a blouse with dark blue and lilac stripes. They bought crop tops, jackets, coats, sweaters, jeans and pants. Buying shoes was going to be a tough job, so they left that for another day.

The group found a stationer's and they went in there. Pandora toured the aisles looking for at least two basic notebooks and a backpack. When she was formed in line to pay for the supplies two middle-aged women stood behind her. They were talking in a low worried voice. 

“I can't believe this is happening”. Said one of them. “Those criminals are ruining the peace in this town. My granddaughter was in that bar during the attack.”

“Is she okay?!” The other woman put her hand on her chest. 

“Yes, she is. Thank God. But now, the authorities need to give us answers. How can they get rid of those monsters? Hmp! Super powers? That's ridiculous! I still can't believe it. 

“I heard the police are going to start investigating these mutants more. They must be put in their place.”

Pandora stood still until she got to the cash register. She had heard everything. She came out of the store and saw the boys sitting in a planter eating ice cream. They were surrounded by many shopping bags. 

"Are you all right?" Queen asked to see her so serious.

“Yes, I am. I just heard something”. 

"We didn't buy you an ice cream because we didn't know which one you'd like." Said Myu.

“And what happened? What did you hear?” Gordon asked.

Pandora told them what she had heard. She felt that that place was not entirely safe for them. What if people found out? She thought. For a moment she felt that everybody was watching her. Everybody knew what they were.

"No place is safe for us." Myu said with a deep look. "Remember we escaped from that place. I doubt they'll leave us alone.”

"But that doesn't mean we can't try to live normally!" Queen tried to appease what Myu had said. "Mr. Hades is doing his best to make us feel at home". 

"Yes, but... If something happens... We will need to use our abilities to protect ourselves. Then people will see us as we are." Pandora clenched her fist.

"We are human beings suffered in an unknown place for more than two years. Innocent people that just want to live in peace. We haven't committed any crime! No one can blame us for protecting ourselves!" Gordon almost breaks his cone thanks to the intensity. 

"It's okay, man." Myu tried to calm him down. 

Pandora had her head down. He was right. She sighed and shook her head slightly. 

"We must go. We shouldn’t let this eat us away." Pandora took a couple more bags to help them.

They got up, took the shopping bags and pulled out of the mall. 

It was seven o'clock at night. Radamanthys, Minos and Lune were returning home on foot. They had gone to tour the city and had learned the name of several streets. Lune had noted down everything in a little notebook. They had also entered a café bar to rest, where they had heard interesting things from the bartender.

"Mutants." The bartender said nervously.

"Mutants?" Radamanthys gave his whiskey a sip.

The café bar was comfortable, cozy and there weren’t many people there. The place wasn't very big, and was divided into two areas. Two tables were taken in the restaurant. The three men and the bartender were the only people in the bar area. 

"Y-yes. Listen, I don't think I should talk about this". The man looked both ways and continued whispering. "People say mutants could be anyone."

"Really?" Lune asked.

The bartender nodded. He served Minos more whiskey. 

"They are among us. A lot of people say they are... Dangerous".

"Since when you think mutants started to appear here?" Radamanthys asked.

"I don't know exactly. Maybe a year ago.” He massaged his mustache. “The first attack was five months ago, but, I've heard rumors."

"What kind of rumors?" Minos took a sip of his whiskey. He looked at the people near them out of the corner of his eye just in case someone was listening to them.

"You know, people said that they had seen... things, like, people acting strange before the attacks occurred. They say the mutant population has increased. God knows how and why. "

 

"Looks like we're going to have to watch our backs." Said Radamanthys. "We must also find someone who gives us more information.

"I already thought about that". Lune was writing on his little notebook. "We could go to the area of the attack. The nightclub."

"When?"

"As soon as we can.”

"My feet are killing me" Minos complained.

"We are very close." Lune said, frowning at him.

They got to the house dragging their feet and found everyone sitting in the living room eating pizza and watching TV. There were empty shopping bags on the floor and a considerable mess of crumbs on the coffee table.

"What is this mess?!" Lune complained. He went to pick up the shopping bags. 

"We saved pizza for you." Aiacos said. 

"Oh, thank you!" Minos quickly took a piece of pizza and ate it. 

"Lune, be careful with the bags!" Queen said. "We bought clothes for everyone.

"What?" Lune opened one of the bags, the one who didn't feel so empty. There was a brown jacket. Radamanthys peeped too. 

"You're welcome." Queen smiled. 

"You better eat now. The pizza is getting cold." Valentine said. 

Radamanthys and Lune sat down in the living room. The blonde man remembered something. He gave a bite to a piece of pizza. 

"Aiacos." 

"Hm?" Aiacos has his mouth full. 

"Let's talk about that now". 

"Oh, yes." Aiacos cleaned his hands with a napkin. 

Radamanthys lowered the TV volume. Sylphid, Pharaoh, Myuu and Valentine, who were watching Mad Max 2: The road warrior stopped watching TV and looked at Radamanthys severely.

"Sorry, lads, but we need to talk about how we are going to survive once we start to run out of money". Radamanthys separated his legs and put his hands together between them.

Everyone looked at each other. They had thought about that, but didn't want it to happen. Radamanthys proceeded. 

"Ok, because we can't just stay here and do nothing forever I suggest we start looking for a job". He gave a bite to his slice of pizza.

"Why the sad faces?" Aiacos asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms.

"It's nothing." Valentine shook his head. "You're right, Radamanthys. I mean, this is the real world after all. "

“Thank you, Valentine.”

"Pandora will focus on her studies. She starts tomorrow at seven." Aiacos said. 

"I can take her in the car". Gordon said. 

"What car?" Radamanthys raised his head.

"We have a car, it is in the garage. That's how we went to the mall today". 

Radamanthys raised his eyebrow. Life was easier now. 

"We have all this week to look for jobs." Aiacos proceeded. "No matter how small or easy they could be. Just go." 

Everyone nodded with lack of enthusiasm. They really had no choice. If they were going to live together they had to help each other with the money. Lune finished eating and got up.

“Now, could you clean up this mess?”

The night fell and the lights went off little by little. Pandora accommodated her belongings and prepared her outfit for tomorrow, which consisted of a black short-sleeved knee-length dress, a blue denim jacket and black boots. She was still a little nervous and fell asleep half an hour later.

Six in the morning. Pandora woke up thanks to Gordon's yells, who was in the kitchen. Pandora got up from bed and watched the morning through the circle-shaped window. She took a bath, got dressed, combed her hair and applied a little make-up. She went downstairs running, got to the kitchen and saw Gordon dressed in sportswear holding a pan. 

"I'm sorry. I hope I'm not too late."

"Just in time. Now, have your breakfast."

Gordon had cooked two eggs with german sausage. Radamanthys got to the kitchen wearing a black jacket, a white long sleeved shirt, jeans and black boots. 

"Gordon, I will take Pandora to school." He grabbed a sausage. "Please, wake up the others. Open the gym if you want.

"Yes, sir!" Gordon clapped.

Five minutes later, Radamanthys was turning on the engine of the car. Pandora finished brushing her teeth, ran towards the car and got in.

A couple of minutes later they were getting out of the forest’s backbone. Pandora was watching the streets through the window. She was sitting in the co-pilot’s seat. A couple of minutes more later, they were in the touristic zone, where there were a lot of restaurants and stores. 

Meanwhile, in the house, Gordon was in the middle of the hallway where the majority of the boys were sleeping. He was holding a frying pan in one hand, and a ladle in the other. He began to hit the utensils together making a solid clack that penetrated strongly into the ear, making everyone jump out of their beds. He did the same thing in the underground bedrooms where Sylphid, Valentine and Queen were sleeping. 

Radamanthys stopped the car. They were in front of an historical looking building, built with big gray bricks, as if it was part of a castle. Pandora got out of the car. 

“Thank you, Radamanthys”. 

Radamanthys nodded. 

“I'll be here at 2 o’clock. Or maybe someone else. Just be here in time.” Radamanthys was going to start the vehicle, but he stopped when he remembered something. “In case something happens and no one can come for you, take a bus. Ask for the routes.”

Pandora nodded. Radamanthys started the car and went away. 

Again, in the house, Aiacos, Minos, Lune, Myu, Queen and Charon were awake. They looked like they were going to fall asleep on their feet. Gordon was in Pharaoh's bedroom trying to wake him up. 

“We must do exercise! Come on!” Gordon was pulling Pharaoh’s sheet. “I will make breakfast for everyone!

Pharaoh got up slowly and rubbed his eyes.

“Damn it, Gordon, just wait a bit.” He yawned and hugged the sheets.

Lune peeped into the room and checked the bedside table.

“Hey, go and wash that bowl, don't be messy."

Pharaoh rolled his eyes and buried his face in his hands.

Almost half an hour later, Sylphid woke up at the same time as Valentine and went upstairs together, then made their way to the gym. Sylphid didn't look so happy because of the way he was woken up.

“Welcome to the club”. Pharaoh said to Sylphid.

Gordon turned on the record player, put his hands on his waist and smiled.

“Let’s get physical.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pandora meets her new classmates.

In the institute, Pandora walked down the main aisle of the school. The students walked to their classroom chatting and laughing. She went up the stairs and finally found her classroom: Door B, 2nd floor.

Pandora entered the classroom, and the first thing that caught her eye was a paper sheet glued to the wall that was in front of her.

'No mutants allowed.'

Pandora froze. She looked at the students sideways, who looked at her and whispered to each other. She tried to keep calm and straightened her back. A girl tore off the paper and crumpled it. She was an Asian girl a little shorter than Pandora. She had light skin, straight light brown hair and deep brown eyes. The girl threw the paper ball in the trash. A group of boys grumbled. 

“Could you stop getting me into trouble with the teachers?” 

Pandora remembered that she was still standing in the middle of the classroom, so she proceeded to take a seat, but the girl stopped her.

"Hello, my name is Gyen and I am the class president." She shook Pandora's hand. "What's your name?"

“I am Pandora.” She felt a little safer talking to her.

“Pleased to meet you, Pandora. You must be the new girl from Germany”.

“Yes, I am”. Pandora took the second seat of the row near the window.

Another girl got to the classroom and greeted Gyen. She had light skin, long straight blue hair and big blue eyes. She was the same height as Pandora. The girl sat behind Pandora. Gyen beckoned her to indicate that Pandora was new in the classroom. 

“Hello” She said timidly with a smile. “I’m Nadja”.

“I’m Pandora” She smiled the same way.

“Nice to meet you, Pandora.”

A teacher entered the classroom greeting the students. He seemed not to have slept well. He put his eyes on Pandora and settled his glasses.

“Are you the new student from Germany?” He asked in a soft voice. He was a young teacher; he was perhaps thirty years old.

“Yes, I am”. Pandora answered.

“Could you tell us your name, please?”

“My name is Pandora Heinstein.”

The students began to murmur again. She could her them say it was a really cool last name. She didn’t feel nervous at all.

“Okay now” The teacher tried to calm the students. “Well, Pandora, I hope you get along with the group and feel comfortable here. You can ask Gyen, our class president, for help.”

Gyen smiled at her and Pandora nodded.

The first class, world history, passed quickly. Pandora made notes on her notebook. She liked history a lot.  
Sometimes murmurs were heard at the back of the classroom. Pandora thought about that piece of paper. Did they really hate mutants too? She thought. Were they talking about her? He saw Gyen, who was sitting on her right. She looked like a nice person, but she didn’t know how to approach her, or Nadja. She didn’t want to be alone.

The second class was chemistry. Two hours. It wasn’t to appealing for her, only because the class was more theoretical. The teacher, who was a middle aged woman, had to go out for a moment and the students started to talk. Pandora stood still without knowing who to talk to. She opened her notebook and began to scribble.

“Pandora”

The aforementioned closed her notebook and raised her head quickly when she heard the voice of Gyen.

"What's the matter?"

"Oh, nothing important really, but you're the first German student I know.” She turned her body towards Pandora. "How is Germany?"

Nadja also moved closer to Pandora.

“Well,” Pandora started thinking. She didn't remember what Germany was like. She didn't even remember her own childhood, so she had to improvise. “It’s very cold in this time of the year. It also snows, like here”.

“Then you mustn't have trouble with the cold.” Nadja said.

“Not really”. She remembered that the lab was also very cold. The floor, the walls, the bed. 

"I'm from South Korea, and there are states where it snows, but I really don't like the cold, I just bear it." Gyen shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m from Sweden”. Nadja said. “I’m very used to the cold” She laughed.

“I’d like to visit Germany someday.” Gyen took his hands to her cheeks. 

"Perhaps one day." Pandora smiled faintly. She was lost in her thoughts about her home which she did not remember.

Thirty minutes later the recess bell rang. The students filled the surroundings of the Institute and the cafeteria. Pandora kept her notebook and her pen in her backpack. Gyen and Nadja got up from their seats and went to the door. 

"Come, Pandora." Gyen called.

Pandora got up and went to them. They came to the cafeteria and formed in line to buy a snack. Pandora bought a turkey sandwich, as she had forgotten to make one at home. Several minutes later, they left the cafeteria and went to one of the gardens of the Institute, which they called the Garden of Roses. When they got there, they met a couple of students. One of them had messy green hair and a white patch in his left eye. The other was a beautiful girl with long blond hair. They were surrounded by rose bushes of pink, red and white roses. 

"Well, Hello!" Exclaimed the blonde in a friendly way.

“Thetys” Gyen greeted. “And Isaac too. Hello.”

The group sat on two benches close to a beautiful rose bush of pink roses. Tethys looked at Pandora from top to bottom. 

“And who could you be?"

“I’m Pandora. I’m new here”. 

"That's what I thought." Tethys smiled. 

"Hey, you two are always here when there's something interesting to say." Gyen said.

Isaac smiled sideways and looked at Tethys. Tethys smiled back at him.

"Maybe there's something."

"Well, say it!" Nadja exclaimed with interest. 

"It is about you know what." Isaac whispered. 

"The accident at the bar?" Asked Nadja. 

"That's right." Tethys answered.

Pandora just looked at whoever was talking while eating her sandwich.

"We all know that the perpetrators of that attack were a group of mutants." Tethys went on. Pandora stopped eating and got even more interested in the talk. "It turns out they didn't act on their own."

“Do you mean they have a boss?” Gyen took her hand to her chin.

“I wouldn’t put it that way”. Isaac said. “They probably didn't even want to do that.”

The three girls remained silent, reflecting the boy's words. 

“Mind control”. Tethys said.

“Oh my god!” Nadja exclaimed putting her hands on her cheeks.

“This is so alien!” Gyen exclaimed.

"How are you so sure about that?" Pandora got into the talk. She had her hands on her knees.  
"My uncle works in the police department." Tethys leaned against the back of the bench and crossed her legs. "He wants me to know everything so I can be careful."

Pandora was thinking. ‘Mind Control? That is too dangerous. Anyone could be the victim of a mutant with that ability. Wait a minute.’ She frowned.

"Do you think all mutants want to hurt us?" Nadja asked fearfully.

"I don't think so." Isaac answered. "I would say they are like any human being. We're not all bad.” 

“I think that too” Pandora looked down. Tethys and Isaac looked at her.

“Besides, think about this,” said Tethys. “If all the mutants were bad, do you think we’d be alive now?”

“You’re right”. Nadja nooded.

Pandora finished eating her sandwich and the girls also finished their snacks. More students were getting to the garden. Isaac and Tethys changed the subject to liven up the tense atmosphere.

“Hey, have you heard about the night of the king and the queen?” Asked Tethys with a smile.

“What is that?” Pandora asked.

“It’s a dance, a party organized by the Institute.” continued to Gyen. “They make it every November. In that dance the students choose a last-year couple to be king and queen.”

“And what do they do?”

“Look good and help to organize the institute’s activities”.

“And do you already have a partner?” Asked Tethys.

“I do!” Answered Nadja excitedly.

Gyen made a grimace of displeasure without the girl noticing. Pandora looked at Gyen sideways and then at Nadja.

“I will go alone. Maybe I’ll ask Noreth to go with me.” Gyen sounded resigned.

Tethys laughed. Gyen crossed her arms.

“Well, there is still time to get one.” Tethys said.

Pandora thought about that. She was going to have a hard time finding a partner.

Another bell indicated the end of the recess. The students returned to their classrooms, and the corridors became more and more empty.

The classes ended and the students walked to the exit. Many students went in their cars and others went to the bus stop. Pandora stood at the main door with her two new friends. They kept talking about the dance and wondered what the theme of this year would be.

Seeing the students get on a bus, Pandora remembered that she didn’t investigate the routes. The girl took her hand to her face for being so careless. She remembered she had to wait for someone to pick her up and turned her body to Gyen and Nadja.

“Where do you live?” Pandora asked.

“Five blocks from here.” Gyen answered. “Sometimes I walk, but I prefer to take the bus”.

“I live a little far from here.” Said Nadja. “In the forest area near the forest’s backbone”.

“Really?” Pandora opened her eyes.

“I’m not rich!” People used to say that to her.

“No, I mean, I live in the forest’s backbone.”

“Are you rich?” Gyen joked.

“Not really.” Pandora remembered all the people who lived in the house.

“We can go together!” Nadja exclaimed and put her hands together. “But there’s only one bus that goes there. It is not so rare to see though.”

“What about your boyfriend?” Gyen faked a smile.

“He is busy right now. Do you want to go to eat?”

“Where?” Gyen asked.

“Uh, I think I have to wait here.” Pandora said shyly.

“We have been here for half an hour. Are you sure someone is going to come for you?”

“I think so”.

The silence reigned in the house. They had all shared two hours of gym and now they were asleep or relaxing. In Gordon’s words, this would be every day. Or at least from Monday to Friday.

Radamanthys was taking a relaxing bath in the bathtub of the second floor. He had his eyes closed and his head back. He settled down and felt a slight pain in his right arm that made him remember a few days ago, when he escaped from the lab. He wanted to clear his mind and poured water in his face. He settled in the tub again and took his right hand to his crotch, but before he could pleasure himself, he remembered something. He opened his eyes wide.

“Oh, fuck!”

He jumped out of the tub, took a towel and put it around his waist, then he went out to the hallway taking quick steps. Aiacos saw him and Radamanthys approached him.

“What time is it?!”

“It’s five to three. What’s wrong?”

“What a wanker!” Radamanthys proceeded to walk to his bedroom.

Aiacos was left alone in the hallway until Lune opened the door.

“Don’t tell me he forgot to go pick up Pandora.”

“Oh, so that’s the reason.”

Lune shook his head in disapproval.

“And he left the floor wet”. The nordic man frowned.

Pandora was having a strawberry milkshake with her friends in a restaurant that was near the institute. She would occasionally look at the window in case she saw Radamanthys or someone else. She looked at a clock on the wall, it was 3 o'clock.

“… and Noreth told me she was going to be making the service in the library” Gyen said.

"She'll be falling asleep" Nadja laughed.

“Sorry, but who is Noreth?” Pandora came out of her thoughts.

“It’s a friend. You will meet her tomorrow. She is nice.” Gyen took a sip of her hot chocolate.

A red Ford Escort parked outside the restaurant. Nadja was surprised and Gyen changed her expression to a serious one. Pandora took a sip of her milkshake without knowing what was going on. Inside the car, a handsome blue eyed blond boy was waiting.

"He said he probably wasn't coming." Nadja got up from the seat. 

"Come on, Nadja, you can tell him you're busy too." Gyen faked a smile. 

“But he already came here! I'll feel bad if I tell him to leave.” She pouted.

“All right." Gyen sighed.

"I'm sorry, Pandora. Tomorrow we'll go home together.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry. See you tomorrow.” Pandora gave her a small smile.

Pandora and Gyen stayed there staring at each other for a while. Gyen sighed again. Pandora kept drinking her milkshake and separated her lips to say something, but Gyen spoke first.

“Is it too obvious?”

“What?”

“That I don’t like her boyfriend.” She looked down.

“Oh, I noticed it a while ago”. Pandora bit her lips. “Why?”

"Because he does what he wants." Gyen moved his hands sideways. "It's exasperating. He doesn't deserve Nadja. They've been dating for three months and I want them to break up.” Gyen put his face on the table. "I'm sorry, I am horrible. I just want her to be happy, not a bunch of nerves that is always trying to please him."

“I don’t think you’re horrible.” Pandora said. “You’re worried about your friend, and that’s good.”

Gyen smiled and nodded.

Pandora saw a military style gray truck going in the direction of the school.

Radamanthys clenched his lips and frowned as he tried to get out of the traffic of one of the main avenues. Valentine was in the copilot's seat and was trying to remain calm at the constant braking of the car. 

Ten minutes later, sooner than expected, Radamanthys was able to free himself from the traffic and was now driving calmly to the street where the Institute was. A grey truck without plates passed them and continued to drive in the same direction. 

Radamanthys slowed down as Pandora could be around.

"Tell me if you see her." He told Valentine.

"Of course." 

They were getting closer to the institute, but there was no sign of Pandora. 

"Damn it." growled Radamanthys. 

A couple of minutes later, Valentine was able to see Pandora sitting in a restaurant. He could only see her head and someone else's. 

"There she is!" Said Valentine. 

Radamanthys sounded the horn two times and Pandora saw him. She got up and grabbed her backpack. They have already paid.

“Come with me, I will tell them to take you home”. Pandora said waiting for Gyen.

“But I can walk, it is not too far!” Gyen blushed.

“Don’t worry. Come.”

Pandora was able to convince Gyen to take her home. They both got in the car. Gyen greeted timidly. Pandora approached the pilot's seat and spoke before Radamanthys could apologize. Radamanthys noticed that four uniformed men were looking at the institute. They talked to each other and one of them watched a device in his hand. He thought it was suspicious. All of them had come out of the gray truck.

“Can we take Gyen home? It's five blocks from here.”

"Uh, okay." Radamanthys looked at the girl through the rearview mirror. "You will guide me." He saw the men one last time while they were getting on the truck.

Gyen nodded quickly.

"Pandora, we are sorry for not being able to come for you before." Valentine apologized. 

"Okay, I was talking with my friends. She is Gyen, by the way.”

“Hello, Gyen. Thank you for wait with Pandora.” Valentine said.

“Ah, yes.” Gyen stuttered. “We weren't going to leave her alone.”

They got to Gyen's house. The house was medium sized and was color beige with a brown door. Gyen thanked the two men and left.

“See you tomorrow, Pandora!” She waved from the door.

“See you!” Pandora waved too.

The streets were free of traffic and the car ride was quiet. Radamanthys looked at Pandora through the rearview mirror.

“Hey, sorry I didn’t come earlier.”

Pandora only moved her eyes to Radamanthys. She looked calm, as always.

“It’s okay. I could spend time with my new friends.” Pandora’s eyes were shining, even if she wasn’t moving at all. Radamanthys could see that she was happy.

“Good” He said.

“What will we have for dinner?”

Valentine asked.

“Good question.” Radamanthys started to think.

After talking about it for a while, they went to a 50’s themed restaurant and bought twelve hamburgers. When they got home, Valentine looked at all the bags and Pandora took some of them.

“Hello?” Radamanthys opened the door. The clock indicated that it was 5 o'clock.

“We brought burgers!” Valentine said out loud.

“We will have them for dinner.”

Pandora went up the stairs and Myuu and Aiacos were going down. Pandora came to the second floor, but before stepping on stairs to the attic she saw that the bathroom door was open, there Pharaoh was sitting on the edge of the bathtub and was watching the bullet wound in his right leg. He saw her, and she just stood there.

“What happened?” She asked. The wound started to bleed. Pandora opened her eyes wide. “Oh!”

“I scratched my leg. I forgot this was here.” Pharaoh said while trying to stop the bleeding with a towel.

Pandora went into the bathroom, took a towel and got on her knees.

“Make pressure on the wound with the towel”

“Do you know first aid?”

“No” Pandora was thinking. “You know what? We better call someone else.” She got up.

Pharaoh clenched his lips and nodded. He kept putting pressure with the towel.

A few minutes later Lune was on his knees in front of Pharaoh. He was holding his leg and had cotton balls in a box. Pandora was watching from the door. Charon was watching too.

“I’ll have to disinfect the wound.” Lune said taking a cotton ball and distilled water. He put it over the wound and Pharaoh tightened his lips more.

“Does it hurt?” Lune asked. Pharaoh shook his head. “Good”

“Are you a doctor?” Charon asked.

“First aid is basic knowledge.” Lune pulled a small red bottle out of a box. He opened it and gave off a strong smell.

Pharaoh made a grimace of displeasure and leaned forward.

“What the hell is that?” Pharaoh asked.

“It’s for disinfecting.” Lune opened the bottle; it had a small shovel to spread the liquid. “It can sting a little, just hold on.”

Lune took the small shovel to the wound. Charon and Pandora got closer to see better.

“Now” Lune put the liquid on the wound.

Pharaoh opened his eyes and quickly let out his long fingernails and thrust them into Lune’s shoulders. The Nordic man clenched his lips trying not to scream and Pharaoh did the same. Pandora covered her mouth with her hands and Charon dropped his jaw.

Lune withdrew the small shovel and the bottle slowly.

“Don’t move until I tell you.” Lune said in a low voice. He felt the pain in his shoulders.

“I’m sorry.” Pharaoh said.

Lune sighed. Pandora tried to help.

“I-I wil put the bandage on.”

“Thank you”. Lune said.

Charon was laughing internally.

A few minutes later, Lune also had to heal the wounds that Pharaoh’s claws made.

At half past seven they were all having dinner. They devoured the burgers and the fries.

“You know?” Radamanthys ate a fry. “I think we should start with a healthier diet.”

Valentine looked at him and nodded, even though he thought about the chocolate filled bread.

“Tomorrow.” Valentine answered.

“Yes, tomorrow.” He continued eating.

Radamanthys remembered those uniformed men. Were they really cops? What were they doing in the institute? It was something he had to find out. He had to warn Pandora about them, but she wasn’t in the table. Radamanthys looked for her, but apparently she had already gone up to her room.

“Tomorrow” He said in a low voice and got up.

In the morning, Pandora was having breakfast while Valentine was making coffee. Gordon was making a sandwich and Lune was reading the newspaper. If something was happening he had to be informed. Radamanthys was still sleeping. He was face down on the bed and was wetting the pillow with his saliva. The others were sleeping too. Aiacos got to the kitchen wearing sportswear and drank a glass of water.

“Morning” He said.

“Are you leaving?” Gordon asked.

“Yes”

“Who is going to take Pandora to school?” Gordon looked at the people present. He waited until someone spoke.

“Okay, I’ll take her.” Aiacos answered.

“I’ll go too.” Lune left the newspaper on the table.

“It’s getting late.” Pandora got up and walked quickly to the restroom to brush her teeth.

In the institute, the students were arriving in their cars and by bus. Gyen was waiting in the entrance for Nadja. She arrived at the same time Pandora did.

“Hello, Pandora!” Nadja greeted her.

“Good morning, Nadja.” She smiled.

“Come on! The class starts in three minutes!” Gyen said out loud.

“Pandora”

The girl stopped and turned her head.

“Yes, Lune?”

“Call us if you need help.”

“Yes. Thank you.” Pandora nodded.

Aiacos, who was driving, made a peace sign and they left.

Pandora went with her friends and they walked together to their classroom.

“Pandora” Gyen said, giving her a very serious look.

“Yes?”

“The men who picked you up yesterday. Are they your…?”

“Roomates”

“What?” Gyen and Nadja asked at the same time.

She could have said they were they jer cousins, but what about Lune and Aiacos? Aiacos, for sure, wasn’t his relative. He could have been a friend of the family. Anyways, she already had said it.

“Yes, they are my roomates”.

“And the other two?”

“Roomates.”

Gyen dropped her jaw.

“Do you live with those handsome men?!”

Pandora blushed a little. She closed her eyes and nodded. They were already in the classroom and they took their seats. Nadja whispered.

“I couldn’t live with so many men. How embarrassing!” She covered her face with her notebook.

“I know right? How did that happened? Are you comfortable with that? You can go to my house if you want. Who is the man that was driving? He is very handsome.” Gyen whispered. She was very close to Pandora.

Pandora closed her eyes, covered her mouth with her right hand and giggled. The literature teacher entered the classroom.

After three hours of literature, mathematics and world history, the recess bell rang. Pandora’s notebooks were full of notes. The three girls were heading to the library, a building that was separated from the school. It took them five minutes to go from their classroom to the library.

When they arrived to the entrance Pandora noticed a group of uniformed men in the main entrance of the institute. She saw that one of them was holding a strange device and was spinning in place while looking at it, as if it was indicating him the location of something. Pandora panicked when the man stopped in her direction. He was looking for something and kept watching the device with a confused look. He said something to the other men and pointed at her direction. Quickly, Pandora entered the library, where Gyen and Nadja were.

“Sorry, I tripped and had to put on my shoe again”. The girl said nervously.

“Are you okay?” Nadja asked.

“Yes. Don’t worry”.

“There she is.” Gyen said.

There was a beautiful red-headed girl with blue eyes behind a desk acomodating a bunch of library cards. She was listening to music so she couldn’t hear them.   
“Noreth” Gyen whispered. “Noreeeth”

“Noreth” Nadja waved her arms.

The girl looked at them sideways and then smiled. She took off her headphones and leaned her elbows on the desk. Her long hair sticked out between her neck and shoulders.

“Well, well, what brings you to this kingdom of fun?” Noreth tilted her head.

“We’ve come to visit you.” Nadja said.

“Do you think books aren’t fun?” Gyen asked crossing her arms.

“Not when I have to sit here for two hours” She sounded tired. “I’ve been ordering cards for one hour. Ordering books is funnier.”

Noreth saw Pandora. She had been looking at the door all this time. She looked very focused.

“Is she with you?” Noreth asked.

“Oh, yes!” Nadja covered her mouth and lowered her voice. “She is Pandora”.

Pandora turned her head to Nadja and then to Noreth. She shook her head a little. She couldn't lower her guard.

“Hello” Pandora greeted Noreth. “I am new here.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Noreth. I guess that was very clear”. The girl laughed.

Pandora smiled, but then looked at the door again; the man with the device was dangerously close to the library stairs. Her breathing got heavy. He was looking for her, she had to do something.


End file.
